Scheifele's overtime winner pushes Jets past Panthers

SUNRISE -A win is a win, and at this point of the season, the Winnipeg Jets will take a victory any way it comes.
Mark Scheifele's 38th of the season, and second of the game, prove to be the overtime winner as the Jets (37-26-3) prevailed over the Florida Panthers by a score of 5-4.
"The last two games, we thought we played really well and didn't get rewarded with the win," said Scheifele. "It was a big win and that's just the way the game of hockey works and now we've just got to go on to the next one."
Along with Scheifele's two-goal performance, three members of the Jets had three-point nights - Vladislav Namestnikov (two goals and an assist), Nikolaj Ehlers (one goal and two assists), and Kyle Connor (three assists).
But out of all the points on the night, it's the two points in the standings that mattered the most as the Jets widen the gap to six points over the Calgary Flames for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.

"We'll take a win anytime we can get it, any way we can get it," said head coach Rick Bowness. "I think a lot of our problems tonight were self inflicted with puck management. That really hurt us. We spent some unnecessary time in our zone. The good news is we scored the five goals, which was huge."
The overtime winner came with 29 seconds left in the three-on-three, as Scheifele lifted a loose puck into the top corner of the yawning cage, giving the Jets a big win to open a three-game road trip.
"Big-time player, big-time goal for us," said Dylan DeMelo of Scheifele's goal. "Definitely a huge win for our group."
The road to get to that win was a windy one.

After going 0-for-9 in the last two games combined on the power play, the Jets made use of their first chance against Florida. A great passing play, starting with a Josh Morrissey stretch pass to Ehlers, created the chance. Ehlers then dropped it to Connor, who spotted Blake Wheeler on the far side, and Wheeler hit Scheifele in the slot for a one-timer that beat Sergei Bobrovsky.
Scheifele's 37th of the season came 6:43 into the opening period.
Winnipeg built on that lead with just under five minutes to go in the first, as Namestnikov's backhand clearing attempt found the stick of Nino Niederreiter near the Panthers blue line. He left a drop pass for Ehlers just inside the Florida zone, and Ehlers snapped a shot from the bottom of the right circle just inside the far post.

The goal was the sixth of the season for Ehlers, an extended Niederreiter's point streak to five games.
Matthew Tkachuk potted a power play marker of his own to pull Florida within one, but penalties caught up to the Panthers just 2:25 later. With Winnipeg on their second power play - and a delayed call coming against Florida - Namestnikov scored his first as a Jet, burying a centering pass from Kyle Connor before Bobrovsky could react.
The Jets took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission, despite being outshot 19-8. It would en up being Hellebuyck's busiest period, and he finished the night with 44 saves.
"Bucky was fantastic tonight," said DeMelo. "Yeah, he let in four goals but I think he won that game for us."

An early DeMelo tripping call 2:55 into the second put the Jets shorthanded, and when they couldn't convert on a shorthanded rush chance, Florida made them pay. Sam Reinhart tapped home his 23rd of the season on a three-on-one rush to get the Panthers back within a 3-2 score.
But that's when Namestnikov added his second oof the night, as he pounced on a loose puck in front of Bobrovsky - the result of a shot from the half wall by Ehlers - and waltzed around the Panthers goaltender to tuck it home. That put the Jets up 4-2 with 7:01 left in the second.
"He's a guy, he just knows where to go on the ice," said DeMelo. "A smart player. Not the biggest guy but he goes right to the net front on that goal and great patience. Big goal for us at that time."

The seesaw battle continued in the third, as Marc Staal finished off a four-on-two rush up ice just 33 seconds into the third period to cut the Jets lead to 4-3. Then, on a four-on-three power play just past the six-minute mark, Tkachuk poked home his second of the night to tie the game at four.
The Jets gave up three goals on the penalty kill, which came into the league ranked as the third best in the NHL.
"We didn't love the goals we gave up. We take great pride in our penalty kill and we got torched tonight, no doubt about it," DeMelo said. "Back to the drawing board for our PK. We have confidence in it. It's won us a lot of games this year and I'm sure we will get it rectified."

There was more bad news for the Jets, as through the third period they lost Morrissey and Adam Lowry to injuries. Morrissey played just one shift in the third, and Lowry played his last shift with 5:02 remaining in the third.
"More evaluation tomorrow," is all the information Bowness could provide following the game. "I would say both of them are very, very doubtful for tomorrow."
Now the Jets will have to recover quickly, as they get set to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night. Whether Morrissey and Lowry are available or not, the Jets know they have to bring the same desperation to the ice that night.
"It's just the next man up mentality," said Scheifele. "Obviously with Josh and Lows, they're two huge pieces of our team and just the next guy's gotta step up and make a difference."